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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29931942">Water Memory</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninaaavan/pseuds/ninaaavan'>ninaaavan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>GOT7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Swim Team, Swimming, Swimming Pools</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-04-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:20:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,896</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29931942</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninaaavan/pseuds/ninaaavan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Water memory,” Jaebeom’s dad nods. “It tells you when you’re home.”</p><p>What the heck does he even mean? Jaebeom wonders but nods like he understands anyways. Water memory-- maybe that’s why he loves swimming so much. That or his teammate(s).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kunpimook Bhuwakul | BamBam/Im Jaebum | JB</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Believe: A Bambam Centric Fic and Art Fest</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Water Memory</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Overseeing and leading practice isn’t always easy. Sometimes he’s out of breath from his laps as he tries to raise his voice to a volume that his teammates can hear over the echoes and splashes in the pool hall. It’s early mornings, putting the lanes back into the pool with the help of whoever else showed up early; meetings over lunch in the coaches office; dinners late at night with only homework as company. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hard work wasn’t a deterrent though. Besides that, every extra minute of the day is made worth it by the bonds he’s forged in the lanes and on the bus. Even the towel whippings he endured and the ones he gave out were a part of the benefit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Today he’s timing his teammates for their PRs. Several other upperclassmen stand at their designated lanes with clipboards and stopwatches in hand. He stretches now and again to try and relieve some of the ache in his shoulders before it can build. Tomorrow is the weekend so he’ll have time to rest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jinyoung winks at him as Yugyeom pulls himself out of the lane and JB does nothing but turn his head away, not willing to let the younger get into his head. Stupid Jinyoung and his ability to read minds. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ready for me?” Bambam’s voice cuts, lithe form ready to step onto the diving block. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a flick of his wrist, he writes Yugyeom’s time and resets his timer as Bambam adjusts his goggles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>JB nods solidly at him, “ready.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The young man grins handsomely and steps onto the block and takes his position.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“On your mark, captain.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once the “buzzer” sounds, Bambam springs off of the block and cuts into the water before he begins to kick. His diving really has improved considerably, he clears half the length of the pool before an arm windmills out of the water to propel him forward. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bambam moves like a fish in the water. Jaebeom has always thought that. To be fair, most of the team looks semi-aquatic, but there’s a liquid grace to Bambam’s moves. It’s like he’s meant to be in a pool or a lake. His backstroke is so beautiful that if someone watched it in slow motion, it would be like watching a synchronised swimming event. Maybe that’s how he learned how to swim, so commanding, beautiful, and skillful like a carefully choreographed art. The precision of his moves and the power in his wiry muscles lands him consistently among the top competitors in the 100 back races. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even with a cap and goggles on, he’s handsome and cut from Nylon-- a svelte archetype of swimmer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He taps the wall with the tip of his fingers and JB is quick to stop the timer and record the time, a machine, as Bambam pulls himself from the pool, out of breath from the sprint, and tears his goggles away from his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And?” he questions expectantly. JB has to glance back down at his clipboard and make sure the next swimmer doesn’t take off early. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You beat it, 2.37 seconds. You’ve improved a lot, Bambam.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Skrrt skrrt, you know that’s right!” He fist bumps Minho on the diving block. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the young man saunters off and Minho starts his time trial lap, Jaebeom has to ignore Jinyoung staring holes into his back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>x</span> <span>x</span> <span>x</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bambam has to admit that Jaebeom is good-looking. He has the broadest shoulders of everyone on the team and his back muscles while he does lat pull-downs are amazing to watch, even if he can only peek where the muscle shirt opens. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's something about watching JB in the water that is akin to a god. He commands power with every movement, forcing the water to move with every kick of his legs and sweep of his arms. His flip turns are precise and his stamina is seemingly endless. His first 50 and last 50 occur in time segments so similar that it's ridiculous. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It isn't any wonder that he's the captain of the swim team. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bambam thinks he's a natural born leader. People preemptively listen to everything he says as if it were an order from the mouth of a god. Everything about him is put together. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The first time Bambam ever saw Captain JB outside of the pool (and weight room), he was dressed in a leather jacket with a black t-shirt underneath of it and a pair of ripped jeans. It was his freshman year and the team was going to have dinner at someone's mom's restaurant. The older man looked so cool then with his hair styled and not soaked with chlorinated water. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even Youngjae did a double-take when he saw him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Any doubts he had about choosing to swim in college were erased that night as he got to mesh with his teammates and become a part of the team, teasing the captain and upperclassmen with Yugyeom and meeting the other members of the team in his grade. </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>x</span> <span>x</span> <span>x</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaebeom can trace his crush on Bambam back to the team bonding dinner they had the night before their first swim meet of his junior year. The younger's hair was freshly dyed back to black instead of the blonde that had been turning slightly green from the chlorine. He had trimmed it too, with a nice undercut and a shorter length on top. He wore black jeans and an indigo or blue button-up, tucked in, with a timeless belt and black boots. It was the first time Jaebeom ever thought rings and black nail polish on a man was attractive in a way that went beyond aesthetics. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Personality was a big factor in who Jaebeom found attractive, too, of course. He wasn't a kiddie pool, he wasn't what people considered shallow. Bambam had been seated two spots down from Jaebeom and it was the first time that the older got to see the younger in a more natural environment. At practice, he usually joked around and tried to create a positive mood for the team, but at that dinner, he was slightly more serious and could speak more freely. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And the final drop in the bucket was when he told JB he’d made a warm up track mix for the team.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Music (and swimming) was the key to his soul. When he listened to the CD, he felt like it was made for him, even though it was a bunch of hype songs that had nothing to do with him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>x</span> <span>x</span> <span>x</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bambam and Yugyeom walk from their dorm to the swim house together for a night of team bonding. As they walk further from campus and closer to the downtown area, they recount the past few days of practice and preparation for the meet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Captain just grilled me on whether or not I was eating enough,” Bambam complains lightly. “I told him I had been but he kept pushing it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s probably just concerned,” Yugyeom offers. “I wouldn’t read too deep into it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They shut their mouths as the upperclassmen open the door to the swim house for them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let the bonding begin!” Jackson almost yells. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s goooo!” Mark responds, holding a beer over his head and looking somewhat stupid with his hoodie tied around his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Things get a bit blurry for a bit as people pour into the house and mix themselves drinks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It hadn’t taken a lot more than Jackson mentioning twerking to a tipsy Jinyoung for him to start spider twerking, especially when Mark and he joined in with the “you won’t” and “he can’t actually do it” for the younger to get up and try it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Youngjae, Yugyeom, and Chris cackled while Bambam recorded. Wonpil could only shake his head in disbelief at the fact that his friend had been persuaded so easily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>JB was sitting across the room from Bambam so he could keep an eye on him, tonight was his night to indulge in staring. He had a front row view of his crush, even when he stopped recording Jinyoung’s mess and opened a new text he’d gotten. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Kyummie! Your mom sent us couples t-shirts!" Bambam cooed before breaking out into a cackle, shoving his phone in Yugyeom's face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was then that he decided he would forget all about his stupid crush. Except, well, he couldn't. How could he forget about how cute Bambam was when he was chuckling with Christopher at practice? And how could he ignore the way his muscles grew and the tone improved as the younger wore sleeveless shirts to the weight room? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaebeom wasn't a creep, so he definitely didn't let his eyes wander in the locker room, but there were times when he would see his teammates, naturally. They spent most of their time together half-naked, obviously. In fact, it was more frequent to see someone's nipples than to see them in pants. He just had to remind himself if his eyes landed on Bambam that anything longer than two seconds was considered staring and he would get roasted by his teammates for it (because someone would for sure notice, that was his luck). </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>x</span> <span>x</span> <span>x</span></p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaebeom cheers for all of his teammates, but it's only Mark and Jinyoung that notice how he screams for Bambam more than the others. Mark because he's the observant type and Jinyoung because he's been on the same swim team with Jaebeom since they were twelve. Jackson wouldn't notice even if JB hired a marching band to cheer just for Bambam, and Youngjae and Yugyeom were always too wrapped up in their own events and cheers to catch it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mark thinks it's funny to watch Jaebeom struggle and to hear how Bambam misinterprets all of the signs, but he never says anything because it's not his place. The only reason he hears Bambam is because their lockers are near one another's in the locker room. Jaebeom, on the other hand, has the emotional capacity of a brick wall sometimes and needs to learn how to express himself better. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So Mark watches on as Bambam nervously dodges one-on-one conversations with the captain and worries for Jaebeom's vocal cords every time they swim against YG university. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaebeom can’t believe that Coach Park has put him on a medley relay. It doesn’t make that much sense considering he’s usually only in the 200 fly event-- because he’s cool like that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Another race, huh?” Jinyoung asks, looking at the list. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaebeom nods, wordlessly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You bookend the meet pretty much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sucks,” Jackson comments. “But it could be worse.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaebeom shrugs, “yeah.” At least he has time to recuperate between races. And the time he’ll spend out of the water means he can dry off and get warm instead of sitting with a towel wrapped around him before his event. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And his poor, chlorine-soaked heart gets to see Bambam every day.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Work out room Thursday then?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah. I need some dry training time," Jinyoung agrees. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bambam just nods and prays that Jinyoung and Jackson don't pair up leaving him at the mercy of the captain. Jaebeom seemed cool with everyone else, but he was always so far up in Bambam's business that it made him uncomfortable. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll see you all there then. Our slot is the same as pool practice."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sounds good. I've gotta go," Jackson nods, grabbing his bag and ducking out of the locker room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaebeom dismisses them, but he hangs around his locker while Bambam finishes packing up his wet clothes and swimsuit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Those pants are nice," Jaebeom chokes out when Bambam stands to leave. He doesn't want to miss his chance to make conversation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bambam glances down at his high school swim team's sweats with the hole on the seam of the left thigh and then back up at JB. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Is he being facetious? He can't decide. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thanks?" At least he's not commenting on the breast and fly shirt Bambam has on. The I’ll show you mine if you show me yours motif could make the situation seem like there was sexual tension when all it really was was tension. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaebeom nods awkwardly and Bambam resumes his trip to the door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>God, what a failure that was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe he should forget how to swim by next practice. </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>x</span> <span>x</span> <span>x</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the day of their meet comes, Jaebeom thinks that there was never a better medley relay team in existence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He can’t forget about Bambam and the way he makes his heart feel like he needs to come up for oxygen when he looks at him, be it in the pool or on dry land.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It really is remarkable to watch his long arms cutting through the water like fins, long legs kicking so fast that they can’t be made out through the spray. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The timer would be glaring at Jaebeom for screaming the way he does if she didn’t have foam earplugs in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before long, Jinyoung is coming and Jaebeom clears his head to assume the starting position for his leg of the relay. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His muscles cope easily with the length and he pours all of his remaining energy into the sprint knowing he has no more races today. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jackson takes off the split second Jaebeom’s fingers touch the wall and he’s sure that they’ll win it with him as their anchor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The heat winner ribbon Jackson secures is enough of a boost for the first race that he feels confident about the rest of the meet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>x</span> <span>x</span> <span>x</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s after the meet and Jaebeom is in some casual clothing, ready to head back home, when he spots Bambam exiting the pool too. He must’ve had to double back for something since he had vacated the locker rooms earlier. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” he calls out to the younger. “Nice work today.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, you too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We won our last home meet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you must be proud.” Bambam struggles to make natural conversation, afraid that there’s a two-faced compliment coming. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Want to get a drink to celebrate?" Jaebeom asks, scratching at the back of his neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"A drink?" Bambam blinks. Is this a trick question? "Is everyone else invited?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Uh, no. I was thinking this could be like a you and me thing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh--" The tone of Bambam's voice indicates a gentle let-down is coming and Jaebeom has to explain himself before it can come.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Like a date," Jaebeom declares, deciding it's now or never. "I like you, Bambam."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You do?" Bambam’s eyes are wide open like a goldfish and his mouth drops open a bit in pure disbelief. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaebeom nods and scrunches his toes together to keep from sticking his jaw out or saying something stupid. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Really? I thought you didn't like me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What gave you that impression?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You always scream at me to do better in the meets, you ask me more questions than everyone else like you're interrogating me," Bambam starts listing and Jaebeom's ears glow red and he reaches to scratch the back of his neck again. "And you watch me like a hawk during work outs and-- oh." Bambam giggles. "You're the awkward type, huh?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, guess I am.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>x</span> <span>x</span> <span>x</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Swim meets are a lot more fun, JB decides, when he has a boyfriend to cheer for him and wait for him with a towel beside the pool. Card games while waiting are fun because Bambam doesn’t care that JB is his significant other and still decides to relentlessly target and tease him at any given point in time. Coach’s annual retreat before nationals is finally good for something more than just getting good food. It provides him with the chance to get to know Bambam and his classmates better. For once he feels like they’re not looking at him as their impervious captain but a true teammate. That’s all in his head, but it pays off when he gets in the pool later. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The team feels like it reaches its strongest at the national tournament, between heats and events when ribbons are handed out and hands are intertwined. Bambam sits on his lap sometimes and JB wraps his blanket around him to warm him up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>People from other teams stare at them and Bambam sticks his tongue out before Jaebeom and Jinyoung have to apologize for him. They don’t see Yugyeom Tik Tok dancing to antagonize the other teams as frequently, except for Mark who laughs quietly. Youngjae rewards everyone in a mile radius with his laughter and smile whenever Bambam roasts someone and Chris and Minho find their own with the other members of the team too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>x</span> <span>x</span> <span>x</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s this moment in time when Jaebeom thinks he understands what his father meant by the term water memory. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Here, at the edge of the Han River (which he would never swim in, but it’s not the feel of the water itself, just the perception of it and the place), something in his body thrums with familiarity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Here, with Bambam’s shoulder brushing his. The hydrogen and oxygen molecules bonded together buzz in enough of his cells that he feels it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He has been here before, he knows. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>To put it into words-- he doesn't think he could. One look at Bambam and he considers that the younger might be experiencing similar. His face is content with a hint of pensivity, serene and serious all in one. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Water memory.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I signed up thinking "I was on swim team once" and not "I was on a swim team ten years ago and have forgotten what it was like" so I hope it was still enjoyable :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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